Christmas Houses

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03fc8c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id205.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Barbershop Chorus"><B><IMG SRC="0410b120.png" border=0 width="11" height="18" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A><B>   </B><A HREF="id181.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa Tornado 1957"><B><IMG SRC="0420b120.png" border=0 width="11" height="18" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A><B>     </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="18"><B>  </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa High School Class of 57"><B><IMG SRC="04312120.png" border=0 width="18" height="18" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="77" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 30 WIDTH="71"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="30" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="71" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>From the Ottawa Herald.</B></div> <div> <B>Article provided by Jim Corcoran</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=94 BGCOLOR="#FF3300" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0403c5e1dvmwlb.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Ottawa High School Class of '57</B></FONT><B>     |    </B><B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa High School Class of 57"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id211.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa History In Postcards">Ottawa History In Postcards</A>   |   <A HREF="id278.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa 1896">Ottawa 1896</A>   |   <A HREF="id176.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa Business">Ottawa Business</A>   |   <A HREF="id91.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flood of 51">Flood of '51</A>   |   <A HREF="id166.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="50s Memories">50's Memories</A>   |   <A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lions Band">Lion's Band</A>   |   <A HREF="id205.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Barbershop Chorus">Barbershop Chorus</A>   |   <B>Christmas Houses</B>   |   <A HREF="id181.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa Tornado 1957">Ottawa Tornado 1957</A>   |   <A HREF="id206.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Forest Park">Forest Park</A>   |   <A HREF="id221.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="City Park">City Park</A>   |   <A HREF="id283.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Franklin County Ottawa History">Franklin County & Ottawa History</A>   |   <A HREF="id245.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Oral Histories Of Ottawa">Oral Histories Of Ottawa</A>   |   <A HREF="id284.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Municipal Auditorium">Municipal Auditorium</A>   |   <A HREF="ottawa_bus_line.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa Bus Line">Ottawa Bus Line</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=386 width="100%" colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Christmas Houses</I></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>The look of Christmas for summer</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="60b70620.jpg" border=0 width="880" height="354" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="60cc4620.jpg" border=0 width="452" height="354" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>The look of Christmas for summer</B></div> <div> By CLEON RICKEL</div> <div> Herald News Editor</div> <div> <B>It's starting to look like Christmas.</B></div> <bR> <div> Ignore the budding flowers and chirping birds. Think green and red.  On tomatoes or geraniums if not poinsettias.</div> <div> The Franklin County Convention and Visitors Committee has picked Bob Marsh's entries as the winners of a holiday greeting card contest.</div> <bR> <div> Marsh, 1123 S. Hickory St., provided photos of a series of Franklin County Heritage Homes in winter.  "The photographs combined the feel of winter with the warmth of wonderful Victorian architecture and history that fit the theme of the photo contest very well," Murray McGee, county convention and visitors director, said.</div> <bR> <div> The committee selected photos of three of Ottawa's most famous Victorian houses to be the focus of the new holiday greeting cards -- the Washburn-Nichols-Meador home, 507 S. Cherry St.; the Ransom-Bennett-Lowry home, 318 S. Locust St.; and the Walsh-Shrick home, 609 S. Cedar St..</div> <bR> <div> "It's been a project two or three years in the making," Marsh said. The Heritage Homes group had talked about using their houses as a backdrop for their own Christmas cards.</div> <bR> <div> However, the project didn't get going until this winter, he said.  "This was the first good snow we've had in two or three years," he said. "I got out before they even shoveled their walks. Some had Christmas lights up."</div> <bR> <div> When they heard about the contest, they decided to offer the photos of the houses.  "The Victorian houses look nice in snow," he said.</div> <bR> <div> The are enough houses for a whole series of new greeting cards over the next few years, McGee said.  The cards will work perfectly in promoting the area's Victorian ambience, he said.</div> <bR> <div> The cards should be printed and ready for sale later this fall, he said.  This is the first time that McGee has conducted a contest seeking ideas for a new series of holiday greeting cards.</div> <bR> <div> At one time, there was a series of holiday postcards featuring local scenes but most of those have been distributed, he said.  "It seemed like it was time to freshen up what we had," he said.  The postcards did get around, he said.  "They are kind of a marketing tool," he said.</div> <bR> <div> On Monday, a group of English tourists stopped by the Visitor's Information Center and bought several of the postcards, he said.</div> <bR> <div> "We always have Canadians who like to come in and buy them because of Ottawa," McGee said. "Then they send them to family and friends."</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>